Friday, December 17, 2010

DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!

Yesterday, I shared that the Lord requested His people go up to Jerusalem on three of the seven feasts of Israel, but I made a mistake on the Bible reference; it should have been Deuteronomy 16:16. While my blog shows only four of you read it, it is posted on Google, and there is no telling how many have seen it there. I have attempted to correct it, but I am not sure it will be corrected on Google. I hope so.

What I am about to say should have been said the very first time I posted on this site. Don't take my word for it! If you have read any of my past posts, you know that I make mistakes, or at least I hope you do. I am not intending that anything I write be taken as "gospel." I simply am putting down on "paper" what I believe the Lord is showing me.

The Apostle Paul, the most prolific writer of the New Testament, wrote at least thirteen of its twenty-seven books. Paul was a person who demonstrated his authority through miracles and in power (Acts 19:11; 1 Cor. 2:4). He, a man who was verified as an apostle by Peter and whose writings were declared to be Scripture by Peter, told his readers to make sure they check what he had to say against the Scriptures (2 Pet. 3:15-16; Acts 17:11; 1 Thes. 5:21). If the Apostle Paul, when writing what has been declared and accepted as Scripture, praises those who did not take his word for being The Word, perhaps one should verify what every preacher and writer has to say. That is especially true of me.

When reading what Paul had to say about checking on teachers, one cannot help but notice the attitude he wanted them to demonstrate. In Acts 17:11, he praised those who did not confront him in public, but who waited for him to finish, and then went to the Scriptures to verify what he had said. Paul respected them, and he called them "noble." And while he did not commend those who verified his teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, it seems to me he was telling us what to do when we find something that does not seem to agree with our understanding of Scripture: simply ignore it, and focus upon that which is good.

I am ashamed to say that I have had a tendency to totally avoid teachers I believed taught something that was incorrect. That is not wise. No preacher is right all of the time, and by rejecting their teaching altogether, I lose the opportunity to learn the truths they do teach. If I continued to do that, and if I were to live long enough, eventually I would not listen to any of God's people. That contradicts Paul's admonition to be taught by others in the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). The writer of Hebrews said basically the same thing (Heb. 10:24-25). Church is where we serve, and church is where we are taught. But, don't take my word for it!